Symptoms of You
by gtgrandom
Summary: Keith gets bit by a love bug in Lance's presence, but he doesn't react the way the team expected. In fact, he has no reaction at all. Lance is very confused, and maybe...just the slightest bit...disappointed? Love bug, with a twist.
1. Day 1: Incubation Period

**Hey Klance peeps. I already uploaded this story to Ao3 because I really prefer the format there, but I thought I'd share this here as well. I think I'm moving on over to the other platform entirely soon, so if you want to see my new works, please follow me there instead gtgrandom.**

* * *

Lance didn't ask for this.

Getting sent on a mission with Keith on some gross, sulfuric planet to trudge around in a swamp? Searching for some swampy civilization? No thank you.

"Could you stop complaining for five seconds?"

"Nope. You dragged me into this. You have to deal with the repercussions."

"I thought you'd want to come! You're always whining about not getting picked for anything."

Lance stopped in his tracks. "First of all, _rude_. Second, why would I want to slosh around in goop all day? Do you even know me?"

"You go to bed with goop all over your face every night. I don't see the problem."

"That is face cream, for your _face_, you Neanderthal."

Keith chuckled, and Lance hated the way his heart skipped at the sound. Stupid Keith and his stupid laugh. He was one insult away from chucking his helmet at the guy.

"Besides, why would you even want me to come with you?"

Keith glanced back at him in surprise. "You're my second. Why wouldn't I?"

Lance felt his cheeks warm at that. "I mean…yeah, but it's not like we're exactly known for getting along."

Not until the lion switch, really. It wasn't until Lance saw Keith, vulnerable and unsure of himself as a leader, that he realized maybe he had nothing to be jealous of anymore. Somehow, piloting Red felt _right_ with Keith in Black. Lance was no longer competing for Shiro's attention and praise. For Allura's approval.

Lance and Keith no longer stood on equal ground—if they ever really had—and consequently, Lance no longer felt like he had something to prove. He just wanted to be useful to Keith. He wanted to be the best second Keith could ask for.

He wanted to be his friend.

Keith shrugged. "We've worked well together on missions in the past. I trust you to have my back. More than anyone else."

Lance stared at the back of his leader's head. Speechless.

"I…you _do_?"

Keith turned around, frowning. "Yeah?"

"Why are you saying it like a question?"

"Why are _you_?"

Lance opened his mouth. "I…" Keith raised his brows expectantly, and Lance huffed. "Forget it."

Keith grinned at him—a soft, fond grin that Lance did not approve of at all—before suddenly jerking forward, slapping his hand to the back of his exposed neck. "_Shit_!"

Lance started, alarmed at the pain on the boy's face. "…Keith?"

"Ngh…"

"What's wrong?"

Keith glanced up, wincing. "Something just _bit_ me…"

Then he teetered unsteadily, and Lance darted forward to catch him before he hit the ground, sinking to his knees with Keith in his lap. "Keith?"

His eyes scanned the marshy ground frantically for whatever had bit the paladin. And then he spotted it—a blue and red beetle rolling around in the mud. It had landed on its wings after being slapped from Keith's neck.

Fuck. What if it was _poisonous_?

Lance pulled Keith away from him to look him in the face. The paladin's eyes fluttered shut.

"Keith? Buddy?"

Keith's head dropped forward, and his whole body went limp.

_Shit_.

_Dammit, Keith. Why'd you have to go flaunting around without your goddamn helmet?!_

"Guys!" Lance hissed into the comm. "Keith just got bit by some creepy alien bug and collapsed. What do I do?!"

"Do you have a visual on the bug?" Coran asked hurriedly.

Keith shuddered in Lance's arms, groaning.

Good. At least he was alive.

"It's like a beetle with a red and blue pattern. Keith said he thought he'd been bitten and then he just…dropped _unconscious_."

Allura gasped. "Coran…doesn't that sound like—"

"Number Three, I need you to check the bite."

Lance swallowed as another tremor ran through Keith's body. "…Is he gonna be _okay_?"

"If it's what I think it is, then yes. But I need you to check the wound. Quickly."

"On it." Lance pulled the paladin further into his lap and swept his mullet out of the way, staring at the mark on his neck. _Gross_. "It's a red bump with…sort of these purply veins around it. Three holes?"

He heard Coran sigh in relief. "I believe I know what it is."

Lance felt the tension bleed from his shoulders, and he drew Keith against him, the other boy slumping against his shoulder, boneless.

"So he's alright? He's gonna be fine?"

"Yes. We just need to get him to a pod so the chemicals can run their course. And preferably before he comes to."

Lance stilled. "_Chemicals_?"

"Oh, yes. What you've encountered is something called the Heartstring Beetle. A very common species back on Altea. The venom enhances dopamine, serotonin…"

"Lance," Allura cut in, "you need to get Keith back here before he wakes."

"Why? What happens when he wakes up?"

There was a brief pause, and Lance knew Allura and Coran were exchanging looks. "Well…those who are bitten become…infatuated with the first person they see."

"Infatuated," Lance repeated, glancing down at Keith warily.

"Yes. They become bonded to this individual, obsessed with them." A cough. "Romantically."

"Oh my _god_," Pidge said, and Lance could _hear_ the fucking awed smile on her lips. "Lance…it's a love bug."

The world tilted on its axis, and Lance felt the blood drain from his face, from his brain. "You're telling me when Keith wakes up and sees me, he's gonna think he's in _love_ with me?" That was literally _impossible_.

"He'll feel overwhelmed by his love for you, Lance," Allura put seriously. "He'll want to be with you at all times, and…perhaps physically as well."

"WHAT."

"Yes, the princess is quite right," Coran added. "Victims of the Heartstring cannot contain their emotions. They truly fall in love to the fullest capacity. It can be very dangerous. In fact, the Galra have used it as an interrogation method in the past."

Lance stared down at Keith's mop head, trying to imagine his ex-rival head over heels in love with him.

"How long does it last?" His voice was tight. Strained. _Breathless_.

"A week or so, until the venom exits the endocrine system. Then the victim usually suffers from a horrible state of depression after coming down from that high. But if we can put Number Four in a pod first, we may be able to avoid that situation entirely."

Right. _Move your ass, Lance. Keith's mental state is on the line_.

"Okay, Kogane," Lance whispered, "we're gonna get you in a pod pronto, my man."

Lance had just moved to stand when Keith shifted against him, muttering something under his breath.

Lance screeched, falling back onto his haunches. "Fuck! He's waking up! What do I do?"

"Maybe cover his eyes?" Hunk offered.

"Oh this is gonna be so good."

"_Pidge_."

Lance was frozen as Keith peeled back, staring at him. His stormy eyes hooded. Brow dimpled.

Lance watched blue-gray irises flash red like a warning light before reverting to normal.

So much for their proactive approach. The drug had already taken effect.

"…Keith?"

Keith blinked a few times, regaining his bearings. Then he looked down at their position, realizing he was half in Lance's lap, and a light pink dusted his cheeks.

"What…what just happened?"

Lance stared at him. Waiting for the spell to hit. To inevitably run its course. "You were bit by a bug."

Keith's eyes widened, and he slapped his hand to his neck. "Right. Jeez. That fucking _hurt_."

Frowning, he rolled off Lance and stood, wiping the mud off his knees.

Lance watched him nervously. "Um…are you…_feeling_ okay?"

Keith glanced at him, taking in his expression. "Yeah…why? What's with that face?"

"Well…you got bit, and then you passed out…so I asked Coran what it might have been…"

Keith tensed. "Is it bad?"

"Not exactly."

"Then why are you being weird?"

"I…" Lance was at a loss. Maybe Keith hadn't been bitten by a Heartstring Beetle after all. And he really didn't want to explain to Keith what that would entail. Not here. Not now. Not…ever. He didn't want to see the look of horror on his friend's face at the mere thought of loving him that much. "It's nothing. Let's get back to Coran so he can give you something for that bite."

Keith nodded, brushing past him toward his speeder. As if nothing remarkable had just happened.

"Is that a normal reaction?" Lance whispered into the comm—quickly, before Keith put his helmet back on.

"Yeah, that was super anticlimactic," Pidge complained.

"No. Usually the victim will launch themselves at the other and refuse to leave their side. The reaction is supposed to be instantaneous," Coran said.

"So maybe he was bitten by something else?" Hunk offered.

"We'll have to run some tests and find out."

Lance found it strange…but he was almost disappointed Keith hadn't suddenly fallen desperately in love with him.

He supposed he was just upset he'd missed out on all that potential blackmail material.

That was probably it.

* * *

Once Coran finished examining Keith, he met with the others outside the room, frowning deeply.

"So?" Lance asked, shifting from foot to foot.

"It's definitely the bite and venom of a Heartstring."

"Then why is he acting the exact same as before?"

"Is it because it's Lance?" Pidge asked. "And Keith hates Lance? So the bug just cancelled out any emotions?"

Lance stared at her. That…

Keith didn't _actually_ hate him, did he?

Not anymore…?

Coran shook his head. "Even those with the greatest hatred toward someone will still feel the effects. Sometimes such loathing can enhance the chemical reactions in the body and create an even stronger reaction. That's why the Galra were able to use it to loosen their prisoner's tongues."

"So…then why is Keith normal?" Hunk asked.

"I'm not entirely sure. It could be that Keith is…immune."

Lance opened his mouth to ask him to elaborate, but then Keith exited the room, glaring at them all crowded together. "I'm fine, guys. It was just a bug with a lot of kick."

The five of them exchanged looks, asking that silent question. _Do we tell him?_

_Is it worth the emotionally explosive reaction?_

Allura cleared her throat, deciding for them. "Just a bug? Well, I'm relieved."

They would keep it a secret then. There was no need for Keith to get flustered over nothing.

"Yes. His vitals are all perfectly normal. Healthy," Coran added.

"Glad you're feeling better, Keith. You gave us a scare," Hunk contributed.

Keith's brow furrowed. "…Thanks."

Pidge looked like she wanted to ask Coran more questions, but she seemed to take the hint and grabbed hold of Keith's wrist to tug him forward. "Let's go eat some lunch. Hunk made Earth's equivalent of potato salad. Without potatoes."

The group started down the hall toward the kitchen, arguing about the enigma of the potato. Lance made to follow them, but then he saw Allura and Coran reenter the medical room, and he hesitated.

They both looked…perturbed.

Which was not a good sign. Not after they'd told Keith he was a-okay.

He bit his lip, waiting for the others to cut the corner, and then he inched closer to the door, his back flat against the wall as he listened.

"There is one explanation for the lack of reaction from Number Four," Coran said quietly.

"You mentioned something about immunity?" Allura prompted.

"Well…it's not quite the correct term. I believe the reason Keith may not show any symptoms is because he already _has_ the symptoms."

Lance felt his own face pinch in confusion. What did that even mean? Did Keith get stung before or something? Did he have the antibodies locked and loaded?

"He's already repressing feelings. So repressing the same feelings is not any different. Just perhaps more difficult."

There was a long pause.

"Coran…are you saying…what I _think_ you're saying?"

The man sighed. "Yes. I fear one of our paladins is deeply in love with the other, and he's quite the expert at hiding it."

Lance's feet almost slipped out from under him.

Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.

Hold the fucking phone.

In love?

L.O.V.E. Love?

What…so…they really thought Keith, his old arch nemesis, his ex-rival, his leader, his teammate…

They thought Keith was in _love_ with him?

Did they even _know_ Keith?

Allura hummed. "I find it hard to believe with the way the two of them behave around one another. Perhaps there's another explanation."

"Yes. Perhaps…"

Lance stared helplessly at the floor, trying to work through his cognitive dissonance.

* * *

Keith poked at his food goo, smirking at something Pidge had said. Seemingly normal.

Across the table, Lance stared at the Black Paladin, scrutinizing.

There was _no_ way.

Keith didn't love him! He treated him like a nuisance half the time.

Sure, he'd told Lance he trusted him, but that didn't mean he liked him, let alone _loved_. It was absolutely ridiculous. Fucking preposterous.

...Right?

Suddenly, violet eyes cut his way, narrowing. "What are you staring at?"

Lance glanced away, fighting the heat that rose to his cheeks.

No way. Not a chance. Keith was just immune to love. He didn't feel anything at all.

He was empty inside. All muscle mass.

There was no way.

* * *

That afternoon, Lance found Allura on the bridge, sniffling.

He stared at her for a moment, taken aback, and then he was approaching her, cautious.

"Princess?"

She stiffened, turning her head slightly in his direction. "Lance." She took a deep breath and faced him, putting on a feeble smile. He hated it when she did that. It reminded him too much of himself and his own habits.

He tilted his head at her. "What's wrong?"

She opened her mouth. Closed it. Shook her head.

"Hey. You can tell me."

She pinched her lip with her teeth and sighed. "I suppose I just…miss Shiro."

He nodded, stepping closer. "Yeah. Me too. He sort of created this…balance in the team. He made me feel less unsteady."

Her blue eyes lifted to him curiously, glistening in the off-white castle lighting. "Yes. I often looked to him for affirmation. His confidence in this team helped me a great deal. Now…now I'm so unsure of myself."

Lance smiled sadly, and he opened his arms, waiting.

She exhaled shakily and stepped into his embrace. Instantly, she melted against him, wrapping her thin arms around him.

"I know how you feel. But Allura, you're so amazing. You've only been with Blue a few weeks and she already loves you. I don't know how we'd do anything without you."

She sniffled into his shoulder. "You're too kind, Lance."

"Not really," he chuckled. "I'm just being honest. And…don't worry. I know we're going to find Shiro. We're going to get him back."

She hummed, holding him tightly, and Lance felt something in his chest…shift.

He really liked Allura. How could he not? She was beautiful and brave and intelligent. But…he was starting to realize that he liked being her friend more.

She let him in like this. They were closer as friends. As teammates.

And he valued that.

They held one another for a while, Lance rubbing soothing circles across her back, sighing against her. He missed human contact too much. What was it about holding another person that made him feel so whole inside?

In his peripheral, he saw someone walk into the control room and freeze. Lance followed the shadow with his gaze.

Keith stood motionless at the edge of the room, taking them in.

Lance stilled in his ministrations as they locked eyes. An unwarranted sense of guiltiness crawled up his spine.

Keith swallowed, blinking rapidly. Then he threw their gaze away and promptly walked right back out of the room.

Lance was pretty sure that was the first time he'd ever seen Keith caught completely off guard. Or awkwardly _retreat_ from a situation.

He stared after the paladin curiously.

* * *

Later, Lance found Keith on the training deck, ripping bots apart.

He was covered in a sheen of sweat, and he'd put his dark hair up in a loose bun. Lance tried to convince himself it looked stupid.

Stupidly _hot_.

"What do you want, Lance?"

Oh. Creepy. His peripheral was uncanny good.

Lance waltzed into the room. "I…just wanted to check in. You know. About…the bug bite."

Keith ended the simulation to glare at him. "Coran told you I'm fine, didn't he?"

"Well, yeah, but...how do _you_ feel?"

Keith shrugged, wiping his upper lip with the edge of his crew-neck. "I'm…I'm…a little on edge, honestly."

Lance frowned, watching as Keith moved for the side of the room and bent to grab his water bottle.

On edge? Was that his word for _jealous_?

Guess there was only one way to find out.

"I also wanted to ask you something."

Keith guzzled half of his water and motioned for him to continue.

"What do you think of me…and Allura?"

That single sentence seemed to kill the light in Keith's eyes, and he took a long swallow while he thought up a response. "What _about_ you two?"

Lance observed him carefully as he spoke. "I don't know. We've grown a lot closer since Shiro disappeared, and what we have seems a lot more _real_ than it used to. Do you think I'm getting my hopes up in trying to…you know…?"

Keith shrugged, capping his water. "What does it matter what I think?"

"You're team leader, and…I just…I wanted to know how you felt about it."

Keith tensed a little at that.

_Interesting_.

"I think you should do whatever you want, Lance. Shiro always tells me to take chances. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be, you know?"

Lance sighed. "You don't think it will mess up Voltron if I started like…dating her?"

Something dark flickered over Keith's face, but Lance couldn't read it. It might've been anger, or sadness, or even anxiety. It disappeared too quickly to analyze.

Keith smirked, retrieving his workout bag and throwing it over his shoulder. "I don't think it will affect the team dynamic. And if it does, we'll just have to work it out." He glanced at Lance again, and his eyes looked empty and full at the same time. "You don't need permission to be with someone who makes you happy, Lance."

And he walked away.

* * *

Lance stared up at the ceiling, scowling.

So Keith might have harbored feelings toward Lance…but why would he encourage him to date Allura if he did? Or did he just…love him so much that he just wanted Lance to be happy?

_Or he doesn't love you at all, and you're reading into this way too much._

God.

Why _did_ he care so much?

So what if his rival and partner and leader was in love with him! That would never, ever work. Keith was a dick half the time, and he didn't even like Lance as a person. Sure, he might have valued him as a team member, but he never _talked_ to him about things. They only ever argued. What kind of relationship would that be?

And it's not like Lance _wanted_ Keith to love him. He just…he liked affection. And to know that someone out there was actually in love with him….someone attractive and cool and talented…

That felt really good.

Keith…Keith had nothing to do with it. Absolutely nothing.

That's what he told himself, anyway.


	2. Day 2: Prodromal Period

They were back on the swampy planet, sinking into the mud. For a brief, fleeting moment, Lance wondered where their armor had gone, but he was quickly distracted by the warm body in his lap.

"…Keith?"

The boy blinked at him dreamily and pulled Lance into a hug.

"Lance," he said softly, wistfully.

Lance's stomach dropped at the inflection of his voice. "K…Keith."

This was _not_ normal beh—

Oh.

Right. The _bug_.

The venom had kicked in.

Keith breathed him in, his nose grazing Lance's neck. "You smell good."

Lance squeaked, trying to gently pry the boy off of him. "Keith…it's the bug…"

"It's not the bug," Keith responded, voice low. Husky.

Lance shivered. His grip loosened on the boy's arms. "It's…not?"

Keith shook his head, and his soft, dark hair tickled Lance's cheek. His fingers curled into the fabric of Lance's jacket and began sliding the material over his shoulders and down his wrists.

Lance was too stunned to protest.

Gloved hands roamed over Lance's back, his shoulder blades, his spine, his neck. They were warm through his shirt, against his skin, and Lance found himself short of breath.

What the hell was happening?

Then Keith's hands rose to his hair, tangling in the short locks, scratching against Lance's scalp. And suddenly Keith's lips were on his neck, hot and firm and _fuck—_there was his tongue.

Lance shuddered, his hands falling to Keith's waist to pull him closer.

"It's…it's the bug bite," he whispered haltingly.

"Mm-mmm," Keith hummed, nipping at his pulse, then down his collarbone. Tongue flicking against bronze skin.

Lance was hot.

He was smoldering.

Blistering out of his skin.

"I love you, Lance," Keith purred, running his hands down Lance's stomach, under his shirt and up his chest.

_It's the bug, the bug, the bug._

"I love you _so_ much."

Lance felt his own hands betray him, tightening around Keith's waist, one of them slipping around to his lower back. And _down_.

"I don't believe you," he replied, and Keith chuckled against his skin, lifting his face to look him in the eye. His gaze was cloudy. Dark.

Absolutely sinful.

"Then let me prove it."

And slowly, he leaned forward, mouth parted, eyes fluttering, and his lips just barely—

.

Lance's eyes shot open.

He was panting, lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. His blood shuddering in his body, rushing south.

_What the fuck._

* * *

"You think it's because he's half-Galra?"

Pidge glared at him through her bangs. "…What are you talking about?"

"_Keith_!" Lance said dramatically, draping himself over the kitchen counter. "You think the reason he didn't react is because of his Galra genes? You know how unemotional those guys are. Maybe something in his blood just…didn't accept his love for me."

Pidge dragged her tired gaze to Hunk. "It's too early for this."

Hunk chuckled. "Lance…why are you so obsessed with Keith's reaction? It's not like you want him to be all over you, right?" He set down a plate of scrambled space goo in front of him. "Or…_do_ you?"

"Shut up. It's not like that." He ignored Pidge's eye-roll. "But…don't you think it's kind of weird? That he had no reaction whatsoever?"

"Eh. Maybe you're just so atrocious you counteracted the chemicals."

"PIDGE."

"It sounds to me like you _want_ Keith to fall for you," Hunk observed, a smug grin on his stupid face.

"That's not it!"

"Then why are you getting all _flustered_?"

"I'm not!" Lance threw his hands in the air. "I just think it's bizarre that Keith gets bitten by a love bug and nothing happens! I mean…that has to mean _something_, right?"

"…What?"

The three paladins stilled, turning to find Keith standing in the hallway with his arms crossed.

Oh.

Oh _no_.

"What do you mean _love bug_?"

They looked at one another for help, and Keith's gaze darkened.

Lance wanted to die. He wanted to actually eject himself into space.

"Lance?" Keith prompted, because he knew somehow, intuitively, this was Lance's fault.

Lance smiled weakly, lifting his hands. "Well…okay, so…don't be mad—"

"_Lance_."

"Alright. Okay! So…that bug that bit you…yesterday…."

"I remember."

Lance winced. "Yeah. Well. It's called a Heartstring Beetle. It's supposed to make you become all lovey dovey around the first person you see…"

"Which was this idiot…" Pidge added, pointing to Lance.

Realization finally dawned on Keith, and he looked like he was about to be sick.

"But you didn't show any symptoms so…we were just…" Lance scratched the back of his neck. "…Wondering why?"

Keith breathed out through his nose. He always did that when he was repressing a storm of rage. "That's why you were so obsessed about the bite yesterday? Why you kept staring at me and waiting for something to happen?" His face fell. "Is that why you asked me about Allura? It was a _test_?"

Lance's gut coiled painfully. "I…I just…" _Wanted to find out if you were secretly in love with me. _"Wanted to make sure you weren't going to jump my bones in the middle of the night…"

It was the wrong thing to say.

Keith glared daggers at him, then at the others. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

Pidge shrugged. "We just didn't want you to feel embarrassed."

Keith scoffed and turned on his heels. "How fucking _courteous_."

Lance rushed forward and caught his wrist. "Hey. It's no big deal, Keith. It's not like anything happened. The bug was just a fluke."

Keith jerked away. "Fuck off."

He left without another word, and Lance stared after him. _Dammit_.

He turned around, biting his lip. "Okay. So. That was bad."

"No kidding," Pidge murmured.

Hunk looked at Lance with a mix of dismay and curiosity. "Did you really follow him around waiting for him to fall in love with you?"

"I…"

"What did he mean the _Allura_ thing?" Pidge asked.

Lance looked down. "I…sort of asked him what he thought about me and Allura to see if it'd make him jealous."

Hunk groaned. "Lance."

"Asswipe," Pidge grunted, stabbing at her space eggs with her fork. "You're such a dumbass sometimes."

Lance sighed heavily, already following the Black Paladin down the hallway. "I know, I know. I'll go apologize."

It hadn't seemed like such a bad thing at the time, his investigation. It's not like he thought Keith would get so upset over it! (He never thought he'd find out.)

But Lance supposed if their positions had been reversed, he wouldn't have liked being kept in the dark, especially if Keith actually thought he was in love with him. Keith probably thought Lance had been laughing behind his back all day. Making fun of him.

He owed him an explanation.

* * *

"Keith."

Silence.

"Come on, Keith. Let me apologize."

"Then apologize."

"It's not going to be very effective if you can't see my puppy dog eyes."

"Guess you'll have to use your words then."

Lance rested his head against the metal door. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the bite. I just…I didn't want you to freak out about it. Like you are now."

Nothing.

"Oh, come _on_! You can't blame me for being a little curious. I mean, Keith, my ex-arch nemesis, bitten by a love bug? You were supposed to wake up all dopey and in love with me! Coran says most victims stay glued to the other person's side all day and can't stop touching them, and that's like…the total antithesis of you. So I was kind of terrified but also super intrigued to see what would happen. And then nothing happened. I got all hyped up for nothing."

Lance sighed, stepping back to look at the door and the shadow there, the only proof that Keith was listening.

"I know Coran said you were okay. But…I guess…I just wanted to make sure you were actually _you_. That the bug really didn't have any effect on you." _That you weren't actually in love with me to begin with. _"I'm sorry for being shady."

The door finally slid open to reveal a very disgruntled, very irritated Keith.

"You should have just told me what was going on."

"I know. But a person doped up on love potion wouldn't answer honestly. So I was trying to investigate…stealthily."

"You were just being creepy."

Lance huffed, smiling a little. "Noted."

Keith returned the grin, crossing his arms over his chest. "I'm glad I didn't react to the bite. You never would have let me forget it."

He was throwing Lance a bone. Not only was Keith forgiving him for his shit behavior, but he was helping him find his footing again. He was helping him restore their relationship to its normal function: fond bickering and habitual button-pushing.

Known territory.

_Comfortable_ territory.

What did Lance ever do to deserve him?

"_That's_ true. I think I would have kept a recording of your love juice intoxication as blackmail. Or just to throw in your face every time you insulted me."

Keith shook his head, but he was smiling. "_Dick_."

Lance hummed. Looking him over. "Any idea why you didn't react to the venom?" He leaned closer, flashing a sly, teasing smile. "Is it because you're already head over heels for me?"

Keith snorted, his dark eyes lighting up. "Yeah, right. You're the _last_ person I'd fall in love with."

And just like that, the giddy smile vanished from Lance's face.

And he suddenly felt very, very stupid.

Keith looked back at him, startled to see his broken expression. "I…didn't mean it like that…"

Lance fashioned a fake smile. "Ouch, Kogane. The last? You're saying you'd fall in love with Coran before me?"

Keith looked relieved by Lance's quick recovery. "At least Coran is actually funny."

Lance gasped, slapping a hand over his heart. "I'm funny! I _just_ made you laugh!"

"Nope. Don't remember. Didn't happen."

Lance gaped at him—his own words thrown in his face.

The _nerve_!

He turned on his heels dramatically, listening to Keith's snickers as he walked away. At least he could always rely on his theatrics to save his own ass. (Hard to call someone depressed when they get so riled up all the time.)

He rounded the corner and leaned against the wall, still clutching his chest.

The last person he'd ever fall in love with, huh?

God.

Lance had been so stupid. How could he have actually thought that Keith liked him? That he loved him?

Had he let his horny dream destroy all his brain cells? Had he actually bought _Coran's_ crazy hypothesis?

_You shouldn't even care this much,_ he told himself. _It's not like you want Keith to love you. You're just lonely and crave affection. _

_Not Keith._

Definitely_ not Keith._

* * *

They were going over mission details for tomorrow. Logistics. Plan B's and C's. Lance had started to daydream about halfway through the briefing. He couldn't help it. He was more of a spontaneous guy. Coming up with plans on the whim. Adapting to changes in the field.

The plans they made ahead of time never worked out anyway.

"...Pidge, Lance, and I will retrieve the data, then," Keith finished.

Lance's head snapped up. "_Me_?"

He never got picked for covert missions. Ever.

Keith raised his brows like it was obvious. "I need someone to watch our backs while we download the coordinates."

There were plenty of people in the room capable of _that_.

Lance's gaze shifted to the others, but none of them seemed very surprised by their leader's choice.

"I was thinking you could wear the armor we stole from the sentries last week and stand guard outside the room. That way you can still have a gun on you without raising suspicion."

Lance nodded. "That's actually...a really good idea. I might not be able to go all Purple Hulk like Allura, but I can pull off the extremely handsome and inconspicuous sentry at the end of the hall."

Keith smiled at him.

It was a wide, genuine smile Lance hadn't seen very often, and he'd _never_ been on the receiving end of one before.

He smiled back, hoping Keith could read the gratefulness and respect in his eyes.

By the way Keith's fond gaze lingered on his own, just a heartbeat too long, he decided he had.

* * *

At dinner, Lance and Keith were competing for leftovers, as usual. Over time, the exchange had slowly evolved from wrestling one another to the ground for the last of Hunk's dish to customary banter and teasing. Lance was pretty sure the only reason they still bothered to fight over the food was for the sake of tradition.

"You get three scoops of green muck, and I only get two?" Lance pouted, indignant.

"You don't even _like_ the green muck."

"Yeah, but I'm hungry."

"Then you can have my space beans."

Lance sighed loudly. "I guess."

Keith smirked, sliding his beans onto Lance's plate. "Don't look so desolate."

Then he leaned close and pecked Lance on the cheek.

With his _lips_.

Lance jumped, the plastic plate falling out of his hands and crashing to the floor. He stared at Keith, who had his own hand covered of his mouth in shock. His face flooding crimson.

"Did you just—"

"No!"

Lance couldn't breathe. He pointed his finger at him, accusatory. "Yes you did!"

"No! No I didn't!"

"You _did_!"

"Guys, what is going on over there?" Pidge called from the table.

Lance stared at Keith, who was shaking his head back and forth, pleading.

"Keith just _kissed_ me!" he screeched, and Keith groaned, bending over against the counter and burying his head in his arms.

"I didn't _mean_ to!"

The others swarmed into the kitchen, gaping. Pidge looked way too satisfied.

"You did what?!" Hunk cried.

"Keith just kissed me. On the cheek."

"That's _it_?" Pidge complained. "By how red your face is I thought he might have—"

Allura dutifully covered Pidge's mouth with her hand, and Lance glared at the gremlin and her loose tongue.

"I think I've lost my mind," Keith said from his position at the counter. "Someone kill me. Put me out of my misery."

"Ah, I believe I know what's happening, paladins," Coran said, a smile splitting his cheeks open. "The second and third days are always the most severe for victims of the Heartstring bite. I think Keith here is finally experiencing symptoms."

Lance stared at Keith in alarm. The boy lifted his head from the counter. "Wait. _Really_?"

Coran nodded. "Did you have a sudden lapse in judgement?"

"Yeah. A huge lapse in judgement. Totally lost control of my body." Keith sent Lance a pointed look. "Obviously."

"_Rude_."

Coran nodded. "You've repressed the venom's effects exceptionally well. It makes sense that when you finally showed symptoms, they would be so moderate."

Moderate?

Keith had just _kissed_ him! That wasn't moderate!

Keith sighed awkwardly, turning back around to face Lance. Glancing up at him warily. "Right. Uh. Sorry, Lance…"

Lance nodded, unable to meet those intense blue-gray eyes for long. "It's fine. It freaked me out though."

"Yeah. Was it that _good_?" Pidge teased.

"It was a cheek kiss, you pervert."

"Can you stop calling it that?" Keith lamented.

Hunk chuckled and steered Pidge back to the dining room, Allura and Coran sharing a look that Lance couldn't decipher before following them out of the kitchen.

Maybe they were thinking about Coran's love theory, and how he'd been very, very wrong.

Keith had never been _immune_.

He'd never been in love with Lance.

He'd just been an expert at fighting off some chemical all along. Because he was good at _everything_.

_Stupid Keith._

Lance didn't know why he felt so upset by this revelation. He should have been rejoicing.

He tried to bury the discomfort in his chest and stared down at his plate on the floor. "Look at all my food. It's _gone_."

"You can have my plate," Keith said.

Lance glanced at him, surprised by the gesture. "Really?"

"Yeah. Lost my appetite after that."

"_Hey_!"

Keith chuckled, crouching to clean up the mess, and Lance smiled to himself, bending down to help. They mopped up the goo and beans onto the plate, a pile of green and brown sludge. They glanced up at one another, sharing a look of disgust.

"Looks like shit," Lance muttered, suddenly queasy.

"I was thinking more…alien vomit," Keith said with that lopsided smile. "I _hope_ your shit doesn't look like that."

Lance snickered, shoving Keith's shoulder.

They stood, rinsing their hands at the sink, and then Keith held his plate out to Lance with a single eyebrow raised. "Seriously. Sorry."

Lance stared at the plate a moment, then at his teammate. "No. It's cool. I overreacted. It just…surprised me."

Keith's eyes dipped to the side. "I know."

But Keith didn't know. He didn't know why Lance was so flustered. He didn't know why this was so…confusing. He didn't know why Lance was so obsessed with the love bite.

And neither did _Lance_.

Lance flashed a smile and accepted the plate, rummaging through the drawer for another fork. "Let's share it. But I get your beans."

"Whatever."

Lance bumped his hip with his own. "Thanks, _babe_."

"Shut up."

* * *

Because Allura and Hunk had managed to successfully convince the Swamp Aliens to join the Coalition that afternoon, the team decided to celebrate with a movie night. A quiet night to disengage and relax before tomorrow's high stake mission.

Lance was thrilled.

While he loved blasting ships to shrapnel, his favorite part about the whole Voltron thing was the team element. They were a family up here, and he loved getting to know them all. Spending time with them when their lives weren't on the line. Watching movies.

It made him feel at home. It made him feel...his _age_.

So when Allura actually agreed to movie night, he thought he might kiss her right then and there, simply because he was too happy to contain himself. Keith had laughed at him for getting so excited, but it hadn't been cruel laughter.

It'd been teasing.

It'd been..._fond_.

Lance dragged his hand over his face. He needed to get a grip. Keith had been affected by the bug all along. He hadn't been in love with Lance. He was just _really_ good at keeping his emotions under control.

Lance couldn't believe he'd allowed himself to actually think that cold, aloof Keith Kogane was in love with him.

He hadn't been looking at this problem objectively. And that was what worried him.

Why _had_ this been subjective?

Why had he wanted Keith to love him so much?

Was he really that attention-deprived? Was he really that desperate for a boost in his self-esteem?

Or…or was it more than that?

Keith plopped down next to him on the couch, freshly showered. His dark hair was pulled back into a short ponytail, dripping onto the back of his gray pajama shirt. He smelled like Altean soap and toothpaste.

Lance had never liked the smell of Altean soap so much in his life.

He pinched his own arm. _Get it together._

There was nothing there between them. Keith was overly affectionate right now because of a weird alien beetle sting, and Lance was particularly lonely and touch-starved. Of course he was drawn to one of the only other humans his age in outer space. It was only natural to be physically attracted to Keith when he was a sword-wielding, lion-piloting samurai with perfect bone structure and killer abs. And with the prospect of such a hot guy having real, genuine feelings for _Lance_ of all people? Of fucking course he was hooked on the idea! It was sweet honey to his ego.

That was it.

That _had_ to be it.

But deep down inside, Lance _knew_ this feeling. It stemmed from the same place that the pain from seeing Hunk and Shay together sprouted from. Where the deep hurt nestled when Nyma betrayed him, and when Allura ignored him.

Deep down inside he wished that Keith could kiss him on the cheek all the time without causing a scene. He wished it was normal for them to be domestic.

Like…like they were _dating._

Lance's stomach twisted, and he glared at the wall.

_No_.

No, that's…he didn't want that. Dating Keith? Was that even allowed? Was that even possible?!

What would that even _look_ like?

All Lance could picture was arguing. Arguing and fighting and hot, rough, steamy—

Music startled him from his thoughts.

Pidge had started the movie.

* * *

Lance was glued to the screen, watching the two alien lovers say goodbye. Tears filled his eyes.

He could hear Pidge scoffing at his emotional response from her spot on the floor. He ignored her, clutching tight to the popcorn bowl.

"Lance, you know it's not real, right?" Keith whispered from beside him.

Hunk waved them off. "He always gets like this. Lance is a sucker for a good romance."

"I think that's sweet," Allura said from the loveseat. His angel. His hero.

"Nah. It's because he can't get a real girlfriend, so he projects himself onto the characters in the movies," Pidge supplied. "It's _embarrassing_."

"_Pigeon_!" Lance kicked his leg out to press his foot into the side of her face, and she screeched, shoving him off.

Only after the fact did he realize that his gymnastics had shifted his upper body closer to Keith, their shoulders touching.

Keith didn't seem to mind. He just reached over and grabbed more popcorn from the bowl. Nonchalant.

Lance glanced at his profile, scanning the amused expression on the boy's face. Dark, damp hair creating sharp shadows on his face. Violet eyes glowing with the light from the television screen like little marble galaxies.

Fuck, how could someone be so _pretty_?

Those gorgeous eyes suddenly cut his way, and Lance almost choked on a kernel at how close it brought their two faces.

"What?" Keith whispered. _Why are you staring?_

Lance opened his mouth and closed it again, uncertain how to answer that.

"You're..." Infuriating? Beautiful? The _death_ of me? He panicked. "You're...warm?"

Keith raised his brows, apparently as confused as Lance as to why the _fuck_ his brain thought that was a good sentence to verbalize.

"Oh...uh...thanks?" His brow furrowed, and his gaze swept over Lance's tank top and shorts. "Are you cold?"

Everything in Lance told him to say no. To go sit somewhere else before he fell into this all too familiar hole.

But Keith looked so concerned about him. And Lance really was freezing his ass off.

He shrugged. "Why do you think I'm sitting so close to you, Mullet? You're like a furnace."

Keith smirked at him. And Jesus, was that the love bug that made him appear so fond of Lance in that moment? Normal Keith never looked so openly..._affectionate_.

"You're leeching warmth from me?"

Lance bit his lip. "Is that...okay?"

The hesitancy and vulnerability in his voice gave Keith pause. He studied Lance again, and this time, with eyes that seemed to peel away at Lance's defenses one barrier at a time. Stripping him of the only thing that still mattered.

His pride.

Keith glanced back at the television screen, jaw clenched, and suddenly the arm resting on the back of the couch had fallen to Lance's shoulder, drawing him closer. Lance couldn't help the small gasp that escaped his lips.

When Lance didn't voice his protest, Keith angled his body toward the Red Paladin, allowing Lance's bent knees to drape over his lap.

It wasn't a lot of contact, but for Mr. Don't-Fucking-Breathe-On-Me Kogane?

He'd practically just invited Lance to bed.

And so that was how Lance found himself snuggling up against Keith on the couch, head on his shoulder, popcorn bowl in their shared lap, and Keith's gloved hand draped over his collarbone. Unfortunately, Lance was unable to pay much attention to the movie's plot with the guy's chest pressed up against his arm. He wondered if Keith could feel his thundering heartbeat through his bicep alone.

At one point, Pidge lazily reached back for the popcorn bowl, but her hand missed. She glared over her shoulder at its shifted position, and then she'd caught sight of the two of them together and she'd blinked at them in awe before quirking a suggestive eyebrow.

Lance glared at her hard enough to convince her not to comment on the situation.

Thank god.

He was still trying to convince himself he was simply using the other paladin as an _armrest_.

That is, until Keith's free hand dropped to the inner part of Lance's leg.

His inner _thigh_.

Lance couldn't even comprehend what was happening. He glanced warily at Keith, but the boy's eyes were glazed and rooted to the TV.

Then the warm, gloved hand started inching _north_. Under his shorts.

Lance yelped and threw the popcorn in the air. Scrambling off the couch.

Keith retracted his hand at expert speed, his gaze snapping back to Lance in alarm, his face burning with mortification. "Shit! I'm _sorry_!"

Lance stared at him in shock, standing at the foot of the sofa. "_Again_?"

"It's involuntary. It just _happened_!"

"That's what _all_ the perverts say!"

Pidge groaned. "Lance, you just wasted all the popcorn."

"It's Keith's fault for groping me!"

Hunk and Allura made startled sounds, but Pidge just rolled her eyes. "What did you expect to happen? He's a nineteen-year-old boy high on love juice, and you're over there crawling in his lap!"

Keith stood up, looking more frightened than flustered. "I'm sorry. I'm just…I'm going to bed. Hopefully sleep this off." He couldn't even make eye contact with Lance.

Allura sighed. "Keith, it's perfectly normal—"

"See you tomorrow," he cut in, and he all but ran down the hall and out of sight.

Allura turned to Lance with a frown. "Lance. Did you have to overreact? You know he can't control it."

Lance blinked.

Shit.

Yeah, that looked pretty bad.

"I didn't mean to flip out. I just…it's _Keith_, you know?"

Pidge grinned at him. "Yeah, _we_ know."

He threw a pillow at her face, hoping it would break her stupid glasses. Maybe _then_ she'd be less perceptive.

* * *

As the movie ended and Hunk and Pidge decided to change the channel to some weird alien game show, Lance's mind wandered to dark places.

Pidge was right.

He'd been asking for it.

And...he sort of _had_, hadn't he?

He'd just taken advantage of Keith when the guy clearly wasn't in control of his impulses. He'd used him to try and figure out his own muddled feelings. To savor the warmth of an attractive person for a while.

It's not like Keith _wanted_ Lance to latch onto him and share his body heat. Normal Keith never would have allowed that to happen. He would have shoved Lance off the second they grazed elbows.

But the venom had convinced Keith that he loved Lance, and so of course he'd welcomed Lance's proximity. Of course he'd wanted to _touch_ him.

Lance shivered as he recalled the warm fingers on his thigh, the scratch of fabric against his skin.

Their friends were sitting right there in front of them. How far would this Keith have gone? Just what had he been hoping to accomplish?

Lance groaned into a pillow as a million dirty thoughts spammed his brain.

_No. _

_No, you're not allowed to think like that. None of it was intentional. _

_Keith doesn't love you. _

_No one fucking loves you!_

"Lance? Buddy, you okay?" Hunk asked.

Lance tensed. "Yeah. I'm...fantastic." _Weak. You can do better than that_. "You know, just thinking back on Allura's comment earlier about me being the sweetest guy she'd ever met."

Pidge snorted. "Are you on crack? That's not what she said."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Hunk turned to face him fully. "Because you're kind of strangling that pillow right now."

Lance glanced down at his white-knuckled grip on the pillow in his lap, and he laughed uneasily, releasing his hold of it.

Pidge muted the game show and looked him over. "Man you've got it bad, don't you?"

"Got what?"

"Um? The biggest, fattest crush on Keith that has ever existed?"

Lance gaped at her. "I do NOT."

"Lance," Hunk said, gentle but firm in his delivery, "come on, man. We _know_."

Lance shook his head quickly, back and forth. "How can you know? _I_ don't even know. What is there to _know_?"

They gave him the most pitiful looks he'd ever seen in his life.

"I get it," Hunk said. "You guys have grown closer since Shiro disappeared. With your rivalry out of the way, it's a lot easier to see what a great guy Keith is."

Lance opened his mouth to protest, but Hunk wasn't finished.

"Now, because of the bug, you've been forced to think about him in a different context. _What would it be like if Keith really did love you? What would you guys look like as a couple_?" He shrugged. "Add all that on top of the way he's been acting around you, giving you all his attention, smiling and kissing and cuddling? It'd be hard _not_ to fall for him."

Lance stared.

"Honestly, I don't see why you two don't just bang and get it over with," Pidge added helpfully. "You've had sexual tension since day one. It's only a matter of time."

Lance shook his head again, trying to get the images that _banging Keith_ conjured out of his mind. "I can't just...he's _incapacitated_, Pidge! He's not in the right state of mind. And I certainly can't bang him when he's high on love bug venom! The real him doesn't even like being around me for more than five minutes!" He grabbed at his hair. "Jeez. I can't believe I'm falling for someone I have a zero percent chance with. _Again_!"

Pidge opened her mouth to argue, but Hunk placed a calming hand on her arm, and she pressed her lips together.

"You don't know that," Hunk reasoned.

"It's Keith, Hunk. Of _course_ I know that."

"People can change. Hearts can change." Hunk opened his palms. "You never thought you'd be here pining over Keith, did you? All it takes is one moment to change everything."

Lance leaned back against the sofa, closing his eyes.

Could Keith really learn to love him? For _real_?

Did Lance...did he want that?

Something in his bones told him he did. He really, really did.

* * *

It was somewhere between too early in the morning and too late at night when Lance heard frantic knocking on his door.

He dragged his ass out of bed, opening the doors to a very fidgety and disgruntled Keith Kogane.

"...Keith?" He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

Keith breathed out shakily. "Sorry. I just…I don't even remember why I..." He shook his head, frustrated with himself. "Something just kind of...pulled me here. I'll go."

Lance reached out and grabbed his wrist before he could take off. "It's probably the bug."

"Yeah. Well. I repressed it before. I'll be fine." Keith's tired eyes met his own, wilting at whatever he saw there in Lance's expression. "Sorry I woke you up."

Lance hissed. "Stop saying sorry. It's bizarre." He yanked Keith inside his room and shut the door behind them.

Keith stared at him, bewildered. "What...?"

"We've got a mission tomorrow. You need to be well-rested. And if this venom is keeping you up because you want to be close to me—"

"I don't want—"

"You know what I mean," Lance said, dropping the boy's wrist. Later he could blame his decision on sleep deprivation or something, but for now, he was letting his selfishness and Keith's desperation take the wheel. "Let's just…deal with this."

"Deal with it?" Keith repeated dubiously.

Lance nodded back at the bed, and Keith blanched.

"Dude. It's fine. You stay on your side. I'll stay on mine," Lance said. Easy, right? Nothing could possibly go wrong here. Nothing at all.

Keith pressed his fingers to the space between his eyes, scowling. "Lance…you don't get it."

"I get that you're exhausted, and that you're team leader, and that both of us need to get some solid rest." The poor guy could barely hold himself together. He'd shown up to Lance's room in the middle of the night against his own will. This was _serious_.

Keith looked up at him, pained. "No, that's not what I..._Lance_...I'm literally doing everything in my power not to jump your fucking bones right now."

Lance's brain short-circuited.

Wait.

"_What_."

Jump his _what_?

Keith turned to leave again, fed up with his own feelings, but Lance didn't let him go.

He couldn't.

"Fine. We can…snuggle or whatever."

Keith looked at him like he'd grown another head. "Lance. Do you actually hear the words coming out of your mouth?"

No. He clearly didn't. Because he knew this was perhaps one of the dumbest ideas he'd ever had.

"What? Physical contact should like…subdue it right? We can do this."

Keith looked like he _really_ couldn't do this.

Lance sighed, stepping back from him. "Look, I know I'm the last person you want to be 'bonded' to right now, but in a few days we can forget all about it." In a few days, Lance would _have_ to forget about it if he ever wanted to function normally around Keith again.

Keith studied him. "You're sure this doesn't cross your boundaries?"

Lance huffed. "Buddy. We crossed that line when you tried to feel me up."

Keith rolled his eyes, but Lance could have sworn the tips of his ears turned the lightest shade of pink. It was too difficult to tell in the dim light of the Castleship. "Yeah. Okay."

Lance nodded. He glanced back at the bed and swallowed. _Play it cool._ "Okay."

There was a beat of tense silence as neither one of them moved.

Lance snickered, running his hand through his hair. "Just…get in bed, Mullet. Before we both die of awkwardness."

Keith glared at him but did as he was told. Lance crawled in after.

Once settled in the sheets, they stared at the ceiling, unmoving.

Lance swallowed. _Why_ did he propose this? Who the hell was running headquarters up there in his brain?

He needed to diffuse the tension. Pronto.

He cleared his throat. "So...um...what does it feel like?"

Keith shifted a little closer so that he was no longer hanging halfway off the bed. "Not like anything really."

"Oh."

He exhaled heavily. "I guess...it's more like my body is moving on its own. Like something is telling me to get closer, but I'm not thinking it."

"Like gravity."

"Kind of, yeah."

Lance looked at him, and they shared a small smile at the ridiculousness of the situation.

"Is it really taking all your willpower right now not to fuck me to kingdom come?"

Keith blinked once. Twice. Then.

"Yeah."

Lance blushed furiously.

Damn. He didn't think he'd answer _honestly_!

"Don't make fun of me," Keith growled.

"I'm not. It's just…" _It's_ _kind of_ _hot_. (_You know, if Keith wasn't being controlled by a perverted demon bug._) Lance sighed and scooted a little closer to Keith until their shoulders were touching. "Is that a little better?"

Keith hummed softly, content, and _holy shit_, if it wasn't the cutest sound Lance had ever heard.

They watched the ceiling together, silent, _wired_. Lance tried to go to sleep, but his heart was beating too fast. He felt like a thirteen-year-old boy.

A cute boy was in his _bed_.

_Keith_ was in his bed.

_Keith_ was in his _bed_!

Lance glanced over at the stewing paladin, taking notice of his crossed arms and the nails digging into his skin.

He raised a brow. "Don't hurt yourself. If you need to touch me, you can."

Keith closed his eyes. "That's not a good idea."

"It's okay. I like human contact. I actually...really miss it." Hence the couch fiasco a few hours earlier.

Keith glanced at him hesitantly, but he must have lost the battle between heart and mind because he uncrossed his arms, curling his fingers into the blankets beside him instead.

Lance'a gaze lingered on his gloves, and he stifled a laugh. The psycho even wore the garments to _bed_.

Lance...quickly flushed out any sexual thoughts that accompanied that factoid.

_Not now._

"Sorry," Keith murmured suddenly.

Lance glanced down at him. "For _what_?"

Keith stared resolutely at the ceiling. "For getting bit. And invading your personal space. And being…weird."

"You've always been weird, bud."

A sharp elbow to the ribcage had Lance chuckling.

"I'm serious. You've been really…calm about this whole thing. So…thanks."

Lance watched Keith's knuckles turn white against the blanket. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his hand.

Instantly, the stiffness in Keith's posture evaporated and he melted against him, his own fingers squeezing back.

"It's nothing, Keith. I'd rather have you glomping me than not be here it all, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

Lance sighed, snuggling a bit closer so that they were pressed flush together, side by side. "I kind of thought you were going to die, dude. You got bit by that bug and you collapsed. And you were like…seizing."

"Oh."

Lance snorted. "Yeah, _oh_."

They lay in silence for a few beats, and Lance felt a nervous prickle in his stomach. "Hey…can I ask you something?"

"Mmm," the boy murmured sleepily.

"Are we…are we friends?"

Fingers squeezed his again. "Yeah?"

"You say it like a question."

"So do you."

Lance rolled his eyes.

"Do you think we're not?" Keith asked quietly.

"I…don't know. Sometimes it feels like we could be like…_best_ friends, you know? There are times when we just feel so in sync, it feels like I've known you forever. And other times we go back to fighting and jabbing. And I know…I know like _half_ the time it's my fault, but—"

"Half?" Keith whispered incredulously.

"Yes. _Half_." Lance squinted up at the ceiling. "But…honestly? I'm kind of tired of fighting you."

Keith sighed, sinking further into the mattress, further into Lance. "Good. I never wanted to fight in the first place."

Lance grinned, closing his eyes. "...Good."


	3. Day 3: Illness Period

Lance woke to an empty bed, and he felt…cold.

Fucking hell.

What had he _done_ last night? He'd tried to act like it was merciful, sharing his bed with Keith, but he'd had ulterior motives all along, hadn't he?

He was a creep, using this opportunity to get close to Keith, to hold him, to touch him, to figure out his own heart. And that would have been bad enough on its own.

But Keith was also…sick.

He wasn't himself. He'd been forced to submit himself to Lance to quench the lust in his bloodstream.

And Lance had taken advantage of that.

Lance groaned, turning his face into his pillow, hoping to mercifully suffocate.

Why did he keep trying to explore something that didn't—_couldn't_—exist?

* * *

Lance sat down at the breakfast table, watching Keith curiously to determine the level of infatuation-intoxication today. When the boy felt his stare, he glanced up, and they locked eyes.

Lance felt a zing of lightning down his spine.

_Stupid, pretty eyes,_ Lance thought. Paralyzed. What gave Keith the right?

He expected Keith to glance away quickly, embarrassed, but the boy's lips quirked at the edges as he took in whatever expression was on Lance's face.

He almost looked…

_Fond_.

"Keith, how are you feeling this morning?" Allura asked, drawing both of their gazes.

Keith reached for the salt, his face carefully neutral. "I'm fine."

"The symptoms?" Coran pushed.

"They're…fine."

The Altean raised his brows. "Better or worse than yesterday?"

Keith stared at his plate, and something dark coiled in Lance's gut.

"I see. I fear we should not proceed with this mission given your condition."

Keith's head snapped up at that. "What? _No_. I'm perfectly capable of getting those coordinates."

"And what about leading this team with a clear head?" Allura reasoned. "Your brain is devoted to protecting Lance at all costs. I fear your fixation on him could cloud your focus."

Keith opened his mouth and closed it again, glancing at Lance with an unreadable expression, almost like he was at war with himself.

"I'll be fine. And we don't have a choice. This is the only time to retrieve the information we need."

Lance wasn't going to argue with him here in front of the others. Not about this.

"Keith's right," Pidge said. She wiped the milk mustache off her upper lip. "Timing is prime. And we need his Galra DNA to access the files."

Keith sent her a grateful look. "Exactly. Don't worry about me. Just…worry about the mission."

Lance was quiet as he ate the rest of his meal, avoiding Hunk's inquisitive gaze.

* * *

Lance pulled Keith aside before they boarded the stolen Galra ship.

"Hey."

Keith turned, swallowing at their proximity and backing up a step. "Uh...hi."

"I know you told the others you were fine. But between us, how bad is it?"

Keith looked at him hesitantly, unsure if he should lower those shields, but something in Lance's voice had him dropping his shoulders in surrender. "It's…distracting. But I know when we're out there, I'll be able to focus on the task at hand. I _know_ I will. Trust me."

Lance studied him. Those dark bangs and indigo eyes. Sharp edges. Jagged corners.

"Okay. Just…if you need me to like…_do_ anything, or come to you, just tell me. Okay?"

Keith drew his lip between his teeth, nodding.

They stared at one another for a moment, as if both of them had more to say but not enough courage to say it.

Instead of baring his heart, Lance sighed and yanked Keith into an awkward hug. Awkward, but long overdue.

Keith's breath hitched in surprise, (or maybe even relief), and he slowly wrapped his arms around Lance, releasing a shaky breath into his shoulder armor.

"Only another day or two, bud," Lance whispered. "Then you're free of the freaky bug juice."

Keith snorted, pulling back. There were too many emotions in his eyes for Lance to distinguish. "Right. A few more days."

Lance patted him on the arm and stepped away, but Keith grabbed hold of his forearm, locking him in place.

Deep eyes burrowed into his own. "...Be careful, Lance."

There was weight there, heavier than a command from a superior, more than a plea from a friend.

It was desperate.

Lance fought off the giddy emotions swelling up in his chest. This _wasn't_ about love. Keith's life was at stake. If something happened to Lance, there's no telling what Keith would do.

There's no telling what the _venom_ would do to him without an outlet.

For all they knew, a Heartstring victim with a broken heart could tear himself to ruins.

"I will, Mullet. I promise."

* * *

For the record, Lance tried.

The mission had been going great. Fantastic, even. They were making great time, and Lance, with his Galran sentry getup, had managed to sneak into his guard post unnoticed.

At least...for a while.

Ten minutes into their heist, Lance watched a sentry approach from the end of the hall. This one wasn't making his rounds. He was walking straight for _Lance_.

Lance tightened his grip on his gun and wet his lips. "How's it coming, guys?" he whispered into the comm.

Behind him, in the control room, five Galra lay unconscious on the ground as Keith and Pidge worked to retrieve the coordinates they needed.

"Almost done," Pidge replied. "Getting antsy out there?"

"_Yes_. Someone's coming."

Keith released a muffled, "Shit."

"We need a few more minutes, Lance," Pidge said. "Stall as long as you can."

"No. We've got what we need. Let's go," Keith ordered. Lance could hear the worry in his voice.

"We _need_ all the coordinates."

Lance sighed. They didn't have time to argue. "I'll figure something out. Just hurry."

The sentry stopped before him, eyes roaming over Lance and his lack of…height. "It's time."

Lance swallowed thickly, glad for the helmet to hide behind. _Time_? Time for what?

How fucking ominous did Galra have to be?

"…Yes, of course," he replied, trying desperately to keep his voice even.

When he didn't move, the sentry's ghoulish eyes narrowed. "For rotation."

Oh.

Lance was supposed to have moved to a new guard post by now. His shift had ended here. Or rather, the shift of the guard they'd hit over the head and stuffed into the supply closet.

"Right. I'll just be on my way then," Lance said, rambling more for his team's benefit than his own. He backed away from the door. "Off to the next post then. Hoping it's more exciting than this one. I almost fell asleep out here."

Over his own nervous chuckle, he heard Pidge and Keith muttering to one another through the comm. Hopefully coming up with a new escape plan.

The Galra peered at him curiously. "I thought Exim was on control."

Ah.

_Dammit_.

He was onto him. If Lance slipped up here, the guard could alert the rest of the ship in the press of a button.

Lance attempted to loosen his shoulders and shed any visible tension. "Oh, he was. But he…uh…came down with a bad case of the runs. I replaced him soon as I heard."

"Ah…" The Galra cleared his throat. "I see."

Lance nodded, offering a Vrepit Sa salute before continuing his retreat down the hall. Breathing out deeply.

He made it about five steps before—

"What's your class again?"

Lance halted.

_...Class_?

He slowly spun,scouring his mind for a response.

"Uh…" _Shit_. He'd heard them talk about classes before when Pidge had intercepted one of their transmissions. It had been a mix of the Galran alphabet and a number. At the dubious look the other sentry was giving, Lance figured he might as well pull something out of his ass. "Vropec…_five_?"

The guard grunted in recognition, and Lance would have nearly cried in relief if the Galran still didn't look so suspicious. "_You_ made it into _Vropec_?"

_Wha—_

Lance didn't even _need_ context to feel insulted. He looked up, arms crossed over his chest. "Yes! As a matter of fact, I _did_."

_You big oaf_, he held in.

"I meant no offense," the guard said, backpedaling. "You just don't strike me as someone..."

"Someone that important?" Lance finished. "Yeah. I get that a lot."

Even in _disguise_ he wasn't enough.

The guard cleared his throat. "Well...I suppose I should inform the others of the post change," he said, reaching for the panel to open the door, and Lance's breath hitched in panic. "I take it if you're still on guard, those inside haven't switched yet either."

"Lance, stall just a little longer," Pidge whispered frantically over the comm. "_Please_."

He closed his eyes for a moment, sighing quietly to himself. The last thing he wanted was to prolong this conversation right now.

"Actually! Uh..." Lance shifted on his feet at the way the Galran stared at him, bemused. "Before you go in there...I did want to ask you something?"

The guard's hand dropped back to his side. "What is it?"

What a great question. What the hell was Lance going to talk to this guy about? What could he possibly say that wouldn't immediately label him as an impostor and get him and his friends all killed?

He was fresh out of ideas. So Lance did the only thing he knew how to do in times like these.

He _flirted_.

"What I want to know is...how you got to be so...big?" Lance gestured to the Galran's broad shoulders, stepping closer, inclining his helmeted head to appear mesmerized by what he saw. "Between us, I'd say you rival Emperor Zarkon in height and..." His dipped his chin. "_Girth_."

The guard grew stiff, hardly breathing. Lance couldn't see his eyes beneath the sentry's visor, but he _could_ see his thin lips searching for a response.

Lance had shattered his shields in two sentences. That had to be some kind of personal record.

The Galran wet his lips. "Those are dangerous words."

Lance took another step closer, looking up at the guard now—nearly two heads taller than him. He only wished the Galran could see his face and the devilish smile there. "I'm a dangerous guy."

Behind the guard, the door slid open.

Before the Galran had even registered the noise, Keith hit him over the head with his bayard, and the giant crumpled to the ground.

Lance gaped at the paladin. "What'd you do that for?"

Pidge appeared in the doorway, pinching her nose in exasperation. "Isn't it obvious? _Jealousy_."

Lance's brows shot up as he looked from Pidge to Keith, who'd evidently heard every word. "Is that true?"

Keith grunted noncommittally, bending over and dragging the Galran into the control room.

Lance fought off the impulse to smile. Even if it _was_ jealousy, it wasn't real. Nothing Keith felt right now was real.

"So did you get the coordinates?" he asked instead.

Pidge grinned. "Yeah. And we need to move before one of those idiots inside wakes up and alerts the ship that we're here. Let's go."

"Lead the way, Pigeon."

* * *

Pidge guided them through the maze of corridors, hacking into the cameras and turning their video feed to glitches at the appropriate moment.

As the three of them pressed against an alcove to avoid several passing sentries, Lance glanced over at ever-stoic Keith. "Hey. You doin' okay, Mullet?"

"Probably better now that you're not lusting after the enemy," Pidge murmured.

Lance would have shoved her over if the stakes weren't so high.

"I'm fine," Keith whispered, keeping his gaze locked on the sentries.

Lance leaned closer to him, armor to armor. "You know I was just stalling, right? I wasn't _actually_ flirting."

Keith's jaw clenched, but he said nothing.

Lance's smile fell.

"All clear. Let's move," Pidge announced, and they hurried down the empty hallway.

* * *

They'd almost made it to the hangar and their stolen spacecraft when a high-pitched alarm started sounding, flooding the corridor in red lighting.

"That's not good," Lance muttered.

At the end of the hallway, he could hear the rapid thuds of scurrying sentries. A whole ship full running after them.

"Looks like someone woke up from their nap," Pidge said, tugging on Lance's arm. "Come on!"

But Lance dug his heels into the floor and gently pried her off. "I'm disguised. I'll let them pass me and attack from behind. You two get to the ship. I'll cover you."

Keith's head whipped around. "What? No way."

Lance spared a glance at the corridor once more. Nothing yet. But they were coming. And the three of them were running out of time. "Get Pidge to the hangar. Get the ship ready. I'll buy you some time."

Keith shook his head, adamant as ever, though Lance could see the distress in his violet eyes, as if he already knew he'd lost this battle. "No. We're not leaving you behind."

"Keith, Lance is right," Pidge said, ignoring his sharp glance of betrayal. "We need a head start. Lance looks like one of them. They won't see the ambush coming. He'll be fine."

Keith's brow furrowed. He _really_ didn't want to let Lance go.

It filled Lance's chest with something warm. Something pleasant. To Keith, Lance was not expendable. Not in the slightest. And that felt _good_.

(Even if it _was_ the bug's doing).

Lance hooked his gloved hand around the back of Keith's neck and forced him to meet his gaze. To focus on him, his blue, beady eyes, and not whatever the hell the beetle venom was telling him to do. "Hey. I made a promise, didn't I?"

Keith stared at him, and Lance brushed his thumb over his nape to keep his attention, to keep him tethered.

"Get Pidge out of here. Send those coordinates to Allura. And I'll uphold my end of the deal."

Keith exhaled shakily. "Lance..."

"Okay?"

_Come on, bud,_ Lance begged through their gaze._ Trust me. _ _Put your faith in me this time. Let me prove to you who I can be. _

Keith ducked his head. "Okay." He backed out of Lance's reach. "Just...hurry."

Lance smiled, and once his friends had disappeared around the corner, he spun to face the dark end of the corridor and the pulsing red lights.

_Let's do this._

* * *

A group of twenty sentries came charging down the corridor, guns in hand. Lance jogged up to them, pointing at the hangar behind him. "There! The paladins are in the sixth wing."

A lie. But that didn't matter.

The soldiers wouldn't get that far.

The troop hustled on, barreling for his friends, ready to capture for torture or kill on sight. Lance wasn't sure which.

He raised his weapon and took aim, steadying his breath.

Flying in Red and blasting apart enemy ships...that was one thing. Lance was removed from the destruction, from the aftermath. But every time he carried his gun, he felt the true weight of this war and what it required of him.

_—_Bloodshed.

He'd learned early on he couldn't allow himself to step back and look at the bigger picture. At all the lives he'd ended and what they'd amounted to. Not during battle.

In the middle of a fight, he could only focus on his own survival, and more importantly, the survival of his friends.

So that's what he thought of now as he gunned down the enemy.

He thought of Pidge. Her bright, _blind_, and curious eyes. Her oversized sweaters. Her beautiful brain. What good it could do for the world, for the universe.

The sentries fell, backs sizzling with the smoke from Lance's laser gun.

One after another.

He thought of Keith. His stupid hair. His annoying, pretty face. The warmth of his body last night, pressed up against his own.

Keith acted like he was a soldier wearing a young man's skin. But in reality, he was a mess of an nineteen-year-old who was capable of real love. Shiro was proof of that. When their leader had disappeared, Keith had shown Lance a facet of him he'd never seen before, and now, with the bug, it was impossible to see Keith as that same hardened, lone wolf.

He was a boy.

A boy...Lance _liked_. A lot.

He'd mowed down over half the sentries by now, but the advantage of surprise was slipping away from him now, and the surviving sentries turned around to behold the culprit.

"Traitor!" one yelled.

With a single word, the gunfire rained upon him.

Lance rolled away, taking cover behind the corner of the wall.

Shit.

He'd only bought Keith and Pidge a minute at most. He didn't have to check around the corner to know that the Galran survivors had split. Four leaving to pursue the other paladins, and the remaining three closing in on Lance's position.

Lasers pinged off the corridor walls, and Lance felt his own heartbeat in his ears.

He was the sharpshooter of the team.

That was _literally_ all he was good at.

He had this.

He exhaled through his nose and threw himself back into the corridor, eyes darting to the three armed sentries and their relative positions.

He blasted a gaping hole through the first one's chest and ducked as the second's shot whizzed past his head. His finger pulled the trigger before his mind had even strung the command into words.

Boom.

Another down.

Before the last sentry could finish him, Lance somersaulted forward and shot up at the Galran from the ground. Into his chin and out the top of his helmet.

It all happened in less than five seconds, but Lance felt like he'd aged five years by the time the young sentry fell to floor, lifeless.

_For my friends_, he reminded himself.

He made to stand, but the clink of a weapon against his helmet made him freeze.

"I _knew_ you weren't in Vropec."

* * *

It was the Galran Lance had flirted with just moments before. He'd recovered from Keith's blow. And he was fucking _livid_.

"Drop the gun."

Lance swallowed, setting the weapon down. The guard kicked the gun out of reach, and Lance swallowed.

_Shit. _

He'd just taken out fifteen of this guy's buddies. And even worse, he'd shown no mercy.

Lance was lucky to still be _breathing_.

The guard pushed the gun harder into Lance's helmet, turning his whole head. "Are you one of them? Or a member of the Blade of Marmora? Answer me."

Lance held his tongue as he spiraled into panicked state.

Could he manage to disarm him and get away? Keith had always been the chief of hand-to-hand combat, not Lance. He wouldn't put it past this Galran to shoot him point blank if he showed even the slightest sign of resistance.

"Lance?" came Pidge's urgent voice over the comms. "Lance where the hell _are_ you? We've got a window. We need to leave!"

Lance breathed out shakily.

He was holding them up.

If they didn't leave now...if they came back to _save_ him...Lance would be responsible for getting them all killed.

He heard a few more sentries enter the hallway behind him, and the last of his hope drained away.

He was surrounded.

He was...done for.

"I'm captured!" Lance blurted quickly. The gun pressure lessened slightly, as if the Galran was taken aback by his outburst. "I'm captured. It's too late for me! Get out of here now! Now, Pidge! You have to_—"_

The guard ripped his helmet off and chucked it down the corridor, seething.

Lance panted, staring at the discarded helmet, praying she'd heard him.

"The Blue Paladin..." the guard murmured, walking around to face Lance, the gun kissing his sweaty forehead now.

"Red," Lance spat, glaring up at him. The guard looked like a demon in the red hue of the blinking lights. "I'm the Red Paladin, now, dumbass."

He felt the warm energy accumulate at the end of the gun, against his skin. He was so close to death he could _taste_ it.

"No ship has left the hangar yet, boy," the Galran said, smiling down at him. "Now tell me. What wing did your little friends run to?"

Lance merely scowled at him in return, and the sentries around him shifted nervously on their feet.

"I will end you right here and now if you don't tell me where they are," he growled.

One of the other sentries cleared his throat. "But he's a paladin. You remember Zarkon's orders_—"_

The guard's head snapped up at that. "I remember better than you, grunt. Capture them alive, he told us. But sacrifice the weak if necessary." Lance felt himself flinch at that word. _Weak_. Lance had always been the weak limb of Voltron. "Better to cripple Voltron than merely knock him over." He looked Lance over with a terrible grin. "And cripple him we shall."

Lance shuddered.

He was going to die here, alone, on an enemy ship.

Would they burn his body? Or would they conserve the fuel and eject him into space?

"One last time, paladin," the guard said, peering down at him through his visor, "where are your teammates?"

Despite the terror in Lance's heart, the devastation for his friends and family, he managed one final, crooked smile. The biggest _fuck you_ he could manage.

The Galran's face lit up with violet rage, but Lance simply closed his eyes, bracing for the end.

Maybe his grandmother would be waiting for him on the other side.

Only...the guard didn't pull the trigger.

Instead, a low, gravelly voice said, "I'm right _here_."

* * *

Lance's eyes flew open.

Keith stood at the end of the corridor, chest heaving. His sword dripped red.

"Keith," Lance said, voice catching on his whisper. Tears sprung in his eyes. "Keith, I told you to get out of here!" _Idiot_.

Keith ignored him as he moved forward, dangerous gaze rooted to the guard's. Intention in his steps.

"Let him go."

The Galran pressed the gun deeper into Lance's skin, but the sentries around the pair took small steps backward.

They'd heard the stories of Keith and his swordsmanship. The reaper and his troop of lions.

They knew what was about to happen.

"Another step and I blast his brains out," the guard hissed, and Keith halted. Lance had never seen him so angry before. So terrified.

But there was something else.

His eyes...

They were yellow. His irises were narrowed to slits, pulsing with rage.

His Galra genes, Lance realized. Holy _shit_.

Those cat-like eyes fell to his own then, holding his gaze. And even though Keith barely resembled himself, Lance _knew_ what those eyes said. He could read them just the same. He gave the smallest nod he could manage, and Keith's gaze snapped back to the guard's as if nothing had transpired between them.

"I'll ask one more time," Keith growled. The ambidextrous bastard had one hand taut around his sword. But the other was hidden from the guard's view. And Lance knew Keith had his blade ready. "Let. Him. _Go_."

"Drop your weapon, and maybe I'll let him live."

That was it.

Keith inhaled, and Lance _moved_.

He shoved the guard's arm upward and away from his head, and Keith instantly threw his knife into the Galran's hand, causing him to yelp in pain and drop the weapon.

Lance caught the gun and whirled to the stunned sentries behind them, shooting them down with only two laser blasts.

The Galran guard yanked Keith's blade out of hand and threw it to the side, and Keith launched himself at him, sword extended.

Lance watched as they threw their weight into each blow, slicing at one another, both murderous, both bloodthirsty.

Lance staggered to his feet to help, but more sentries flooded into the corridor behind them, coming to their dead comrades' aid.

Lance tried to block out the sound of swords clanging behind him as he faced the horde of sentries and shot them down like bowling pins.

One.

Four.

Seven.

Their numbers thinned as the pile of bodies on the ground multiplied.

For Pidge. For Keith.

_For Earth and everyone on it. _

When Lance had successfully slaughtered the entire backup troop, he heard the slick sound of sword puncturing flesh, and his heart plummeted.

He spun.

The Galra lay on the ground, clutching the wound in his abdomen and choking up blood. Keith stood over him, bruised and haggard, but relatively unharmed. The yellow of his eyes was fading away.

Jesus _Christ_.

Lance felt like crying. In fact, he could already feel the burn in the back of his throat, the rim of hot water in the corners of his eyes.

But before he could even breathe Keith's name, the Galran's bloody hand clasped around Lance's discarded gun_—_the same weapon he'd kicked away from him_—_and in the beat of a dying heart, he shot Keith through the chest.

* * *

Lance had been ejected into space after all.

He was flying through a cold, pressurized tundra without any oxygen. The darkness began closing in on him from all sides, crushing his lungs.

Tears of relief had instantly turned to tears of horror as he watched Keith stumble backward, staring down at the hole in his armor. He swayed and fell to his knees, touching his wound and gaping at the blood on his glove, as if it shouldn't be there.

Lance's knees almost gave out as well, but he forced himself to stagger forward and drop next to his friend. Keith blinked slowly and teetered into him, knowing he'd catch him. Lance wrapped his arms around him, the knot heavy in his throat.

"...Keith?" he whispered, voice catching.

This wasn't happening.

Keith grew heavy in his arms, his own strength giving out, and Lance sank with him, breaking.

Around them, the hallway had been stained red with blood and ruby lights. Bodies covered the ground, including the guard who'd shot Keith. He'd died with a grin on his lips and a gun in his hands, and Lance had never hated someone so much in his life.

He felt Keith's breath grow shallow against his neck, and with a terrible uneasiness, he looked down at the paladin.

Death. That's what Keith looked like.

Fierce, fiery, unyielding Keith now lay in his arms, bloody, limp, and ghostly.

The tears fell down Lance's cheeks, blurring his vision. "_Keith_."

The boy could barely keep his eyes open. He could barely hear Lance's desperation.

_Dying_, Lance realized with a stricken face. Keith was dying right here in his arms.

He'd come back for Lance because some _bug_ had convinced Keith he loved him. And now Lance was losing him...watching him fade right before his eyes.

He blinked hard, shuddering from the sobs he fought to repress.

_No_.

No. He absolutely refused.

Keith was not allowed to die here. Not yet.

Not like this.

Lance leaned down, pressing his slick forehead to Keith's.

"Not today."


	4. Day 4: Period of Decline & Convalescence

Lance stood in front of the pod, arms crossed, jaw clenched.

Keith had been in there for over 24 hours now.

His eyes were closed, his face pale, and if Lance hadn't been staring at the soft, pulsing light on the heart monitor for the past twenty minutes, he would have thought his friend dead.

His nails bit into his forearms as he recalled dragging Keith's limp, bloody body to the stolen Galra ship. Pidge had taken off the instant they closed the ship doors. Then she'd put the craft on autopilot and spun in her seat, horrified.

"Is…is he…?" she'd whispered, her eyes wide and haunted.

Lance had collapsed with Keith in his arms, sinking to the cold floor of the ship and letting out a choked sound. He'd lifted a shaking hand to Keith's carotid artery, and the weak beat he'd felt there had him sobbing in earnest.

He'd kept pressure on the boy's wound the rest of the way home, and then he'd immediately stuck him in a pod, ignoring Allura and Coran's alarmed shouting.

He'd refused to leave until Coran assured him that Keith was stabilized. That he was going to be alright. Then Hunk had dragged him away and plopped him in the showers with a change of clothes and a towel, ordering him to, at the very least, clean the blood off his armor.

Lance had stood in the shower for over an hour, crying and damn near hyperventilating. He couldn't get the image out of his head. He'd nearly lost Keith. He'd nearly been the _reason_!

He'd tried to help his friends, but in the end, he'd only put them in greater peril.

He never should have gone on that mission. If Keith hadn't been blinded by the bug's venom, he never would have let Lance participate in such an important operation to begin with.

After scrubbing himself raw, Lance had grabbed a bowl of space goo and plopped himself in front of Keith's pod, fully confident he would not be getting any rest until Keith was back to being his stupid, grumpy, fiery self.

And now, hours and hours later, Lance felt the exhaustion pulling at his eyes, the trauma of the previous day hollowing out his insides.

Coran appeared behind him, giving Lance a start. "He should be healed up now, Number Three. Due to the extent of the damage, he'll need to take it easy for a few days, but there's nothing more the pod can do for him at this point."

Lance nodded, only half listening. The others had gathered in the room at some point, all eager to see Keith come back to the world of the living. Hunk placed a large, warm hand on his shoulder, squeezing.

Coran lifted the screen to Keith's pod, and Lance strode forward, catching the paladin as he began to sway forward. Lance sank with him to the ground, feeling the tears return to his eyes when Keith's arms rose around him to hug him back.

"Lance…" Keith whispered, faint, _soft_.

Lance buried his face into the boy's neck and the tail of his greasy, bloody, mop of a mullet. He couldn't speak. Not yet. So he just held him close, breathing him in.

Keith's fingers dug into Lance's shoulders, clinging tight, and neither of them made any effort to move from their embrace.

Lance wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but when he finally surfaced, they were the only two left in the room.

* * *

After helping Keith to the showers, Lance left to brush his teeth and change. Before he'd even realized where his feet were taking him, he'd found himself back in Keith's room, waiting for him to return.

He hadn't been in Keith's room often, but he'd always marveled at the clean, spotless state of his living space. The sheets were always crisp, as if Keith never even slept there, and the only belongings out on display were Keith's boots, jacket, and Marmora blade.

At first Lance had found the minimalist lifestyle kind of intimidating. It embodied Keith's detachment to people and places. It screamed, _I don't need anyone or anything. _And Lance had resented him for it.

But now, Lance only felt a pang of sadness when he took in the emptiness. He still might not have understood Keith perfectly, but he knew the paladin valued his friends. That he loved Shiro like a brother. There was so much more to him under that hard exterior, and Lance just wanted _in_.

Keith returned a few minutes later, dressed in sweats and his dark t-shirt. His hair still damp.

"You're here…" he said, blinking at Lance in confusion.

Lance swallowed his nerves. "Yeah…I figured you'd still have some symptoms. Figured I'd just…stay here tonight. If you want."

Keith nodded, glancing down. "Yeah…I…thanks, Lance."

Lance let out a quiet breath of relief. If he had to be physically separated from Keith for the whole night he might actually die.

After turning off the lights, they faced Keith's bed, staring down at it in silence. Too exhausted to coax Keith into snuggling, Lance crawled into the bed first, his back to the wall to give Keith enough space. Keith climbed in second, resting back against the pillows a few feet away.

Lance watched his profile, both of them tense with the unsaid.

"How bad is it tonight?" he asked when the silence became unbearable.

Keith closed his eyes. "Pretty bad."

"Coran thought that the pod might have helped speed up the chemical process. He thinks this is the last kick. Said you'll probably be fine tomorrow."

Keith huffed like this was amusing for some reason.

Lance studied him, his heart fishing for _something_. "Keith…"

Keith bit his lip, but he said nothing. He kept his eyes closed, his body unmoving. Lance sighed, scooting closer. He placed his hand against Keith's arm, and the boy's breath hitched.

"_Keith_."

Keith finally looked at him, his eyes wide and wet and fearful and….

And Lance lost all self-control.

He all but tackled Keith into the mattress—burying his nose in the boy's neck, slipping his arms around Keith's waist and behind his back. Keith released a startled gasp, his arms instantly enveloping Lance and holding him tight against him, his body shuddering beneath him. As if he'd taken a hit of a powerful drug.

For a moment they just held each other, hearts thundering in their chests.

Lance forced himself not to cry. He couldn't cry every time Keith showed him the smallest bit of affection. Especially not when it was all venom-induced hormones.

"You really scared me," he whispered, clinging tightly.

Keith's heartbeat calmed with his own, and a soft, comfortable warmth grew between their tangled bodies. "I know. I'm sorry."

Lance shook his head, his lips grazing against Keith's skin as they moved. "No, you're not."

Keith's hands dug into his spine like he was afraid Lance was about to pull away. "I'm sorry I scared you. But I'm not sorry I did what I did. I'd do it again if I had to."

Lance grinned sadly. "You saved me, Keith. You had everything to lose, and you didn't even hesitate. That bug bite has made you _crazy_."

"I've always been impulsive," Keith protested. "And I always would have saved you. That much hasn't changed."

Lance finally lifted himself from their cocoon to stare at his friend. At the boy who would die for him.

At the boy he could never have.

He rolled off Keith's warm body to lay on his back, and Keith exhaled quietly in protest. If Lance couldn't have Keith like that…then he wanted him as a friend. As someone he could confide in about anything. He wanted that more than he could express.

Lance stared up at the ceiling, contemplative. "You want to know something funny?"

"Is it _actually_ funny?"

"You're such a dick."

Keith grinned.

"When you didn't display any symptoms that first day, Coran had this ridiculous hypothesis," Lance continued.

"Was it that I was coldhearted? Pidge already told that joke."

"No. He actually thought that you were…immune to the bug."

Keith turned his head to stare at him, brow pinched. "Immune?"

"Yeah," Lance said, smiling now. "He thought that you didn't show any reaction because…because you already felt that way about me or something. So the venom couldn't cause what was already _there_." He chuckled a little at his own gullibility. "Ridiculous, right?"

Keith didn't say anything.

In fact, Lance was pretty sure he'd stopped breathing. He glanced at the boy beside him, his face shadowed by his bangs.

"Keith?"

"…Did you believe him?" the paladin asked. An unreadable tone.

Lance scoffed, trying to keep his bravado. "No. Of course not. Because it's totally _insane_." He lowered his voice. "I'm the last person you'd ever fall in love with, right?"

A beat passed.

And the Keith was sitting up, throwing the covers off of him. "I need to go."

"Wha…what do you mean, go?" Lance sat up, frowning. "This is _your_ room!"

Keith didn't even meet his eyes as he grabbed his jacket and dashed out the door.

"_Keith_!"

What…

Lance jumped out of bed and raced down the hallway to catch him, grabbing hold of Keith's wrist and spinning him around.

Keith's eyes were blown wide. And they were _glistening_.

Whoa. What the hell?

"Lance. You need to back off. I can't…I can't control myself right now."

Lance stared at him, bewildered. "What are you saying?" His grip on Keith loosened at the desperation in the boy's voice. "What do you mean?"

Keith wrenched away from him, a face of misery and pain. "I'm about five seconds away from kissing you. On the _mouth _this time. So if you don't want to endure that you better get the fuck—"

Lance gripped him by the back of the neck and yanked him forward—planting one right on Keith's moving, cursing mouth. The chaste kiss was little too forceful, and probably a little unpleasant, Lance realized, judging by the way Keith remained frozen in place, completely stupefied.

Lance softened the kiss a little, lifting his chin to fill the space between Keith's awed and parted lips. He brushed his thumb along the nape of Keith's neck and slowly drew away, savoring every lasting touch between them. Mourning the loss of contact when he sat back on his heels.

Keith's face was red, but he looked more baffled than livid. "What's…going on? I thought _I_ got bit? Not you?"

Lance dropped his hand back to his side in a kind of stupor.

_Quiz-fucking-nack._ Had he really just done that? Had he really just kissed Keith on the mouth?

"I don't know. My body just…did it. Without me thinking it…"

Keith stared up at him. Blinking away his tears.

And...shit.

Lance had just forced himself on his teammate who literally only wanted his body because he was under the influence of some alien bug. Not because he loved him. And Lance still _did_ that.

_He_ was the one with no boundaries. And he didn't have an excuse!

Lance groaned at himself and turned away. "I'm sorry." He'd really fucked this up, hadn't he? He'd heard _kiss_ and his brain had turned off. And now he might have lost his friend for good all because he couldn't bury his feelings. "I'm sorry…I shouldn't have…I think I need to get some sleep. I'll just….I'll go."

He only got a few steps before—

"I lied."

Lance halted, turning his head.

Keith stood there in the center of the hallway, fists clenched, eyes dark and fierce and unwavering.

"What?"

"I lied, Lance. You're not the last person I'd fall in love with."

Lance felt his heart stutter, and he had a hard time finding his next words. "I'm not?"

Keith shook his head. "When you told us you were captured, and you ordered us to leave you behind…Lance, I fucking snapped. It felt like I'd lost Shiro all over again, only worse, because it's _you_. And maybe the bug bite took me over the edge, but I _know_ I would have reacted the same way if I hadn't been bit." Keith's eyes softened slightly. "Losing you has always been my nightmare Lance. And when I saw you there, smiling into the barrel of that gun, it felt…it felt like my whole world had stopped."

Lance couldn't breathe.

"Coran wasn't insane," Keith concluded, gazing into Lance's disbelieving eyes. "He was _right_."

Lance stared, chest tight, muscles clenched. There was no way. _No way._ "Right…right about which part?"

Keith stepped forward, taking a deep breath. "I didn't feel any different after the bite because I already _felt_ that way, Lance. And now the venom is just preventing me from repressing feelings that are already there. Desires right under my skin. That have always been there."

Lance got hung up on that word. "_Desires_?"

"_Lance_."

Lance blinked down at him, trying to recover from the emotional whiplash. "So…you…"

"I care about you, Lance. More than anything," Keith said, blushing furiously. "So no, I'm not in love with you, but I think that I could. Love you, I mean." He glanced to the side. "I think I could love you. And I think it'd be really fucking easy."

Lance swallowed.

Keith…was confessing to him? Perfect, gifted, beautiful Keith Kogane? Something wasn't right here. That just…that was too easy.

"You're not going to change your mind in the morning?" Lance asked, dubious. "When the bite wears off…you're not going to take this all back, right?"

Violet eyes lifted and locked on his own. "These feelings were here long before the bug bite, Lance. This whole thing…it might have pushed me into confessing…but I couldn't stop feeling this way if I tried. I promise."

And at that, Lance fucking _melted_.

No one had ever cared about him like this. No one had ever felt this way about him. Not this strongly. He'd always been the annoying one. The flirt. The seventh, useless wheel.

But to Keith he'd always been more than that, more than one of five paladins in a space war. Deep down, a part of Lance had always known that.

Keith _liked_ him.

Lance smiled, leaning down to kiss Keith once more—only to have the paladin rise up to meet him halfway.

Keith pushed back against him this time, as if he were eager to show Lance the true depth of his feelings. Eager to make up for time lost. And fuck, Lance couldn't agree more. They should have been here ages ago. Pidge was right — this had been building for too long.

Keith's hand slid from the side of Lance's face down to his chest, pushing gently. Lance grinned against those starved and skillful lips, allowing Keith to take control and back him up against the closest wall. There was nothing hotter than Keith taking command of a situation. Especially if _Lance_ was that situation.

Lance moaned a little at the weight of Keith's body pressed flush against his own. Warm and solid and firm. As they kissed, Lance's mind darted from one sensation to the next — his fingers threading and pulling against dark locks, the breathless sounds such actions elicited, Keith's hand trailing down over his chest and under his shirt, a hot tongue grazing his own.

Lance tasted Keith's toothpaste, and when he moved to kiss Keith's sharp jawline and exposed neck, he could taste traces of Kieth's spiced soap and the salt of his skin. But even as he stood there with weak knees, overwhelmed by everything Keith, Lance still wanted more, more, more.

He shuddered as Keith's gloved hand scratched against his hip bone, as his calloused fingertips brushed the patch of skin where his sweats hung a little too low over his waist. It wasn't fair. Lance wanted to touch him too.

He grabbed hold of Keith's shoulders and spun them around, slamming Keith back against the wall and claiming his lips once more. Keith chuckled against him, and Lance felt himself burning from the inside out.

They were feeding a fire here between them. Fanning the flames of something new, something otherworldly.

Lance licked into Keith's open mouth and dragged his hand from Keith's waist to his back, curving Keith's whole body into him. But as his hand slipped higher across that soft, supple skin, Lance felt something else.

Scar tissue.

He broke the kiss and stared down into Keith's heavy-lidded eyes as his hand traced the sensitive, raised flesh. Lance knew with a heavy heart that a matching scar sat over his breast.

Keith's smile dwindled. "It doesn't hurt."

Lance dropped his hand and backed away. "We probably should take it easy tonight regardless."

Keith looked a little disappointed, but he nodded, pulling his shirt back down from where it had ridden up. His hair was ruffled, and his lips were swollen, and Lance…Lance didn't know how to cope with the fact that Keith _liked_ him back.

He held out his hand to the paladin. "Your room or mine?"

Keith glanced at him in surprise, and then he released a soft snort. He slid his hand into Lance's. "Yours. It feels more…homey."

Lance squeezed his hand tightly, biting his cheek. He was not going to overthink that statement. He would not spend the rest of the night floored over the idea that Keith felt at home in Lance's room, in Lance's presence. Nope. Not doing that.

Lance guided them down the corridor to his room, and they paused in front of the door.

Keith searched his eyes curiously. "So…do you…?"

Lance tilted his head at him. "What?"

"I mean…I know that you're physically attracted to me…but…I mean…" he trailed off.

_Oh_.

_Oh shit, _Lance thought, mortified. Here Keith was, being completely open about his feelings (probably for the first time in his life), and instead of responding to said feelings, Lance made out with him against a wall for fifteen minutes. Because that was somehow supposed to convey everything to the most emotionally stunted person he'd ever met? Jesus, Lance could be thick.

"Keith, oh my god." Lance cupped the side of the boy's face, shaking his head. "It's so much more than the physical stuff. I mean, yeah, okay, I've always thought you were hot. And I have a feeling your dick will send me to the fucking astral plane—"

Keith scowled at him, and Lance bit his lip to keep his laughter in.

"I didn't know before….how I felt. After the bug bite, it was hard to deny my feelings anymore. But when I saw you almost die, it really clicked into place for me. I knew that I couldn't fight this war without you. I knew that losing you would break me." Lance caressed the paladin's cheek. "I think….I think I _really _like you, Keith."

Actually, Lance was pretty sure he loved him, but he didn't want to scare Keith away just yet.

Keith stared at him, a slow smile spreading across his face. "That's not going to change in the morning?"

Lance knocked their foreheads together, matching Keith's smile.

"Buddy, I think these symptoms are here to stay."

* * *

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And stay, they did.

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**Thanks for reading! 3**


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